Queensland man struck by lightning identified as he fights for life in hospital

The Queensland man that was struck by a bolt of lightning while playing golf has been identified as he fights for life in hospital. 

Dirk Kotze was struck by lightning at Watima Golf Course at Brendale, north of Brisbane, at about 2:30pm on Sunday as the city is battered by heavy rain. 

The local business owner remains in a critical condition in hospital after the bolt of lightning sent him sprawling onto the ground. 

A GoFundMe has raised almost $7,000 for the keen golfer who was described by a close friend as a ‘kind, generous and welcoming’ man. 

‘Unable to work as a self-employed business owner, this fund will assist with covering existing daily overheads and other essential commitments which he cannot attend to, and to support Dirk and his family through this very difficult time,’ the page read. 

Queensland Ambulance were called to the course, where paramedics treated Mr Kotze before he was rushed to hospital in a critical condition on Sunday. 

Severe thunderstorms lashed southeast Queensland over the weekend with residents warned to avoid unnecessary travel due to flash flooding risks.

The heaviest falls were recorded at northern Brisbane with 60mm of rain and Eumundi in the Sunshine Coast with 77mm. 

Storms and heavy rain will continue to batter northwest Queensland this week after a wild weekend saw trees blown down and the SES receive 42 calls for assistance. 

The wet conditions will extend along the east coast of Australia with showers forecast for Sydney with flash flooding battering Cootamundra in NSW.

An evacuation order has been issued for parts of the Cootamundra township and include Muttama Creek with NSW SES operations officer Brett Koschel saying Cootamundra received 93mm over the last 24 hours.

‘What we are seeing are similar levels to the October floods,’ he said on Monday. 

‘Overnight we had two call-outs for flood rescues in Cootamundra and about 10 calls to other jobs.’

It comes as Burketown, an outback town in the state’s northwest about 800km west of Cairns, has experienced record-breaking inundation.

Almost 100 people were evacuated from the town over the weekend after river levels exceeded seven metres, surpassing the 2011 record of 6.78metres. 

At least 37 properties have been inundated by rising flood waters and had their power disconnected, leaving the small Burke Shire community isolated.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk believes the damage bill for the devastating floods across the state flood will run into the millions.

‘We’ll get an analysis, we’ll get people in there as soon as we can, but I expect it to be in the millions,’ she said on Sunday.

‘Some of these homes have had a lot of inundation, so the recovery will kick in almost as soon as the flood waters subside.’

On Sunday, the federal and state governments announced more disaster funding, including payments for Urandangi residents of up to $180 for individuals or $900 for families to cover personal essentials.

In Burke, Carpentaria, Cloncurry, Doomadgee, Mornington and Mount Isa, loans of up to $250,000 will be available for small businesses and primary producers. 

In Sydney, showers will continue into Tuesday before the skies clear and the mercury rises to 34C on Thursday.

Melbourne is expected to have partly cloudy conditions throughout the week with temperatures reaching a maximum of 29C on Thursday.

Brisbane will have showers before the conditions clear up on Tuesday and the sun returns on Thursday with a maximum of 35C to come on Friday.

Adelaide will enjoy mostly sunny conditions for most of the week while Perth will sweat through summer temperatures with 36C expected on Thursday.